Mount Paran Christian held a 13-point halftime lead, but it had to hold off Trion down the stretch to take the 61-60 victory in the first round of the Region 6A tournament Tuesday.

Trion, which outscored Mount Paran (18-7) by a 15-9 margin in the third quarter, took a one-point lead — its only lead of the game — with 58 seconds left. Will Crone then nailed the second of his two 3-pointers with 36 seconds left to put Mount Paran back on top.

The Eagles, who made 11 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter, made some defensive stops and went 6-for-6 from the line in the final 30 seconds to take the victory.

Mount Paran will host archrival North Cobb Christian in Thursday’s region quarterfinal. The No. 10 Eagles’ win Tuesday likely gave them enough of a boost in the Class A private-school power rankings to ensure a state playoff berth.

Whitefield Academy 70, Christian Heritage 40: The Wolfpack won a one-sided affair to advance to the quarterfinals of the Region 6A tournament at Mount Paran.

Whitefield used its full-court pressure, forcing Christian Heritage into more than 20 turnovers, and it built a 31-point lead at the half before pulling its starters at the end of the third quarter.

Eric Lockett had 22 points to lead Whitefield (15-9). He also pulled down 12 rebounds and came close to a triple-double with nine assists.

Norman Harris and Brendan Myles both had 11 points apiece, while Berto Dryden had 10 assists to go with his seven points.

The Wolfpack will play Fellowship Christian in the quarterfinals Thursday.

Kennesaw Mountain 74, Harrison 59: The Mustangs are one game away from the state tournament after picking up their second-half defensive intensity in the first-round Region 4AAAAAA tournament game.

After clinging to a four-point halftime lead, they outscored Harrison 22-14 in the third quarter to get separation.

Nigel Hayes had 18 points to lead the Mustangs, while Maceo and Miles Inman both had 13. Brendt Pickens added 11, Adrian White had 10 points and Andrew Jimenez had eight points and nine assists.

Andre Powell had 19 pints to lead the Hoyas, whose season ended after making the state semifinals last season. Jay Bowyer had 13 points.

Kennesaw Mountain will play Campbell today at Marietta for a spot in the state playoffs.

Dominion Christian 53, Heritage School 50: Isaiah Primus-Belgrave went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final minute, leading the Knights to a win in the semifinal round of the GISA Region 1AAA tournament.

Primus-Belgrave was 10-for-10 at the line on the night and had 12 points. Tomae Theriot added 11, while Tate Cooney and Harrison Kristofak each had nine.

Dominion rallied from a 28-20 halftime deficit, taking a 41-32 lead into the final period before Heritage trimmed it back.

The Knights will play for the region title on their home court Thursday against either Loganville Christian or Weber.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Kell 43, Riverwood 34: The Lady Longhorns couldn’t get a shot to fall in the first quarter and found themsevles trailing the Region 7AAAAA quarterfinal by seven points at the end of the first quarter and eight at the half.

Once the second half began, Kell started making shots and outscored Riverwood 17-6 to take the lead. Caliya Robinson bailed Kell out and scored 13 of her 18 points in the second half.

Robinson was the only double-digit scorer, but it was Onyx Henderson who got Kell going in the third quarter with back-to-back 3s before finishing with nine points.

Kell will play Pope at Sprayberry in the semifinals Friday.

Sprayberry 61, Creekview 51: The Lady Yellow Jackets played a near-perfect fourth quarter to stun second-seeded Creekview and secure a spot in the Class AAAAA state tournament.

Tied at 40-all going into the fourth, it started with Aysia Grimsley and Neena Carter hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to put Sprayberry (18-8) ahead by six. The Lady Yellow Jackets maintained the lead until Creekview was forced to foul, and Sprayberry won it on the free-throw line.

Grimsley went 8-for-9 on the line in the fourth quarter. Carter led with 26 points.

Sprayberry will next face Osborne in the region semifinal.

Allatoona 60, Hiram 48: Free-throw shooting proved to be key for the Lady Buccaneers as they won the Region 5AAAAA quarterfinal and clinched a third-straight state playoff berth.

Allatoona (15-5) was 28-for-32 for the night, with a 17-for-18 performance in the second half. At one point, it hit 15 consecutive attempts.

Alexis Ezell led the Lady Buccaneers with 13 points, while Alyssa Dobson had 11. Elise Spann, Brianna Middleton and Miranda Arnold each had nine.

Allatoona will host Lithia Springs in Friday’s semifinal.

Pebblebrook 51, South Cobb 34: Whitney Young and Mandy Aguebor each had 14 points to lead the Lady Falcons to a first-round win in the Region 4AAAAAA tournament.

Brandy Brown added 11 points, while Tia Westbrook and Precious Walker each had 11 rebounds. Aguebor and Brown each had seven rebounds, and Young seven assists.

Pebblebrook advanced to face Hillgrove in Thursday’s quarterfinal at Marietta, with the winner gaining a state playoff berth.

Lakil Mason had 13 points for South Cobb.

Wheeler 61, Walton 57: The Lady Wildcats qualified for the state playoffs for the second straight year after winning the Region 5AAAAAA quarterfinal at Roswell.

Wheeler (9-15) trailed by nine at halftime, but its full-court pressure in the second half created steals in the third quarter that led to easy baskets. Wheeler outscored Walton 20-12 in the third quarter and maintained its lead the rest of the way.

Walton’s season came to a close, while Wheeler will face Woodstock in a semifinal game Friday.

BOYS SOCCER

Lassiter 2, Harrison 1 (PK): Justin Shaw made two saves in penalty kicks to help the Trojans seal it.

Lassiter ended up winning the penalty kicks 6-5.

Harrison’s Cole Guertin scored first in the eighth minute into the second half on a header off a corner kick. Lassiter tied it 22 minutes later when Muner Abousaud scored an unassisted goal on a scramble 6 yards from the goal to send the game into overtime with the score tied 1-all.

Lassiter will host Hillgrove on Friday.

Walton 4, North Cobb 0: Four different players scored as the Raiders blanked the Warriors in a non-region game at North Cobb.

David Greene scored the first goal on an assist by Walker Nance. Davis Carbo scored the second goal unassisted, while Nance scored the third, assisted by Alex Munoz. Filipe Garlazo accounted for the second-half goal with an assist by Shehean Barzagar.

Michael Jerrick ended up with the shutout at goal.

Walton will host Kell on Friday.

Osborne 3, Pebblebrook 1: Octavio Martinez scored the Falcons’ lone goal at the end of the first half, with Jose Avalos assisting, but it wasn’t enough to beat the Cardinals.

Osborne took a two-goal lead in the first half before Pebblebrook cut it, and the Cardinals got an insurance goal in the second to seal the win.

The Falcons (0-1) will play Sprayberry at home Tuesday.

GIRLS SOCCER

Harrison 1, Lassiter 0: The Lady Hoyas scored their goal 13 minutes into the second half on a corner kick.

Monica Herrera kicked into the box to an open Audrey Tanner, who was there for the finish.

Harrison (1-0) finished with 12 shots on goal and held Lassiter to just four. Goalkeepers Kelsey Daugherty and Allison Leoni combined for the shutout.

Harrison will host Starr’s Mill on Thursday.

Walton 3, North Cobb 0: The Lady Raiders got their offense in the first half, winning their season-opening road game.

Leigh Purinton had two goals, with Ally McCarthy scoring the third. Both had assists as well.

Kristen Loughran also had an assist but later suffered an injury to her left knee, according to coach — and mother — Sharon Loughran.

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